Only story-relevant characters and bosses have spoiler marks - character folders for basic Mooks and other such beings are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
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The Teens
The player characters. Each have their own distinct personality, but play no different from the other. They were abducted by Ominent to use as experiments for shrinking technology prior to the game. In General
- Action Survivor: Rather necessary they become this, in order to survive being shrunken with initially no tools, shelter, or steady supply of food or clean water, in a backyard full of hostile and very dangerous creatures.
- Fire-Forged Friends: The teens don't seem to have really known one another prior to being shrunk, with their only common fact being that they went to the same school. Over the course of the game, the four begin to develop strong friendships with one another. So much so that after they're all un-shrunk by the end of the game, all four start their school's science and robotics club together.
- They also become this with Wendell by the end of the game after he helps them get un-shrunk, and, in the best ending, forms a club and established a scholarship fund for them.
- Five-Man Band: Well, four, unless you include BURG.L to be part of the group. However, their group is later increased with Wendell joining the party after they find him.
- Max is The Leader, being the most charismatic, confident, and easygoing of the four.
- Hoops is The Lancer. While not as straightforward as Max is, she's energetic and boisterous, and incredibly optimistic.
- Willow is The Heart. Despite her reserved and quiet nature, she's actually incredibly empathetic and cares a great deal for her new friends.
- Pete is The Smart Guy. He's the one to piece together most of Ominent's motives and how they can escape, or make best of, their small predicament.
- The overall lack of a The Big Guy can be reasoned that all four teens fulfill the role.
- Wendell Tully could debateably be reasoned to be their Sixth Ranger, as he doesn't add much to the party besides insight, advice, and is capable of defending himself should the need arise.
- Incredible Shrinking Man: How they got involved in this whole mess isn't clear at first, though some of Wendell's logs vaguely refer to 'the kids', so they were probably intentionally shrunk. Turns out Ominent is responsible for kidnapping and shrinking them for SPAC.R research, while a of sympathetic scientist is responsible for placing them in the yard.
- Intergenerational Friendship: With Wendell in the true ending.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: None of the kids can recall exactly how they got shrunk in the first place, along with how they wound up in Tully's backyard via a specially-designed carrier dropped in by parachute, and equipped with SCA.Bs to locate and use Tully's research facilities scattered around the yard. BURG.L notes this is a likely a traumatic side-effect of their shrinking as their minds adjusted to their new situation, drawing comparisons to his own damaged memory banks. At certain points throughout the game, when sleeping, the kids will gradually start to recover partial memories of their situation, remembering their kidnapping by Omnient to serve as human guinea pigs for the SPAC.R technology on living humans, successfully getting shrunk, getting designated for disposal by Director Shmector to obscure Ominent's involvement, and a sympathetic scientist smuggling them to Tully's in hopes they could use his findings to restore themselves to normal.
- Possession Implies Mastery: Can use things like bows and spears expertly as soon as they're crafted.
- Punny Name: All of them have this.
Maxwell "Max" Smalls
Voiced by: Luke Youngblood
"Hey, nice to meet you. The name's Max. Maxwell Smalls!"
An easygoing and confident person with loads of charisma. He takes on an unofficial leader role within the group.- The Gadfly: If Pete activates the machine in the start of the game, Max will call out Pete saying he’s gonna get in so much trouble... before saying he’s not a narc, and says he won’t tell.
- The Leader: Max is the most confident, easygoing, and straightforward of the group. Naturally, he takes a bit of a leadership position within them.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mostly directed towards Pete or Willow. Hoops tends to spit them back at him or brush them off.
- It Will Never Catch On: After Pete tells the group of Wendell's experiments using computers, Max makes a snarky comment about how computers won't catch on like Pete seems to think they will. Granted, the game is set in 1990.
- Punny Name: Maxwell Smalls.
Willow Branch
Voiced by: Ozioma Akagha
"Hi! My name's Willow. Nice to meet you."
The most sarcastic of the group, but also the kindest and most empathetic. Serves as The Heart.- Cloudcuckoolander: Firmly believes (at least at first) that the whole situation is a dream.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mostly to herself, but she's full of one-liners.Willow: You've been completely indoctrined into consumer culture!
Willow:Just because my name is Willow Branch, doesn't mean I'm on the menu! - Never Heard That One Before: Yes, she's aware her name is a pun. No, it wasn't funny the first time, either.
- Picky Eater: By her own admittance. Unfortunately, food choice is rather limited in her situation.
- Punny Name: She's no fan of it.
- The Quiet One: In comparison to the other three teens, at least.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: A downplayed example, but Willow is the Girly Girl to Hoops's Tomboy.
Peter "Pete" Boggs
Voiced by: Max Mittelman
"My name's Peter...but you can call me Pete."
The Geek, and is often the butt of many jokes. Despite this, Pete is an endearing young man and is every bit as resourceful as the others.- Butt-Monkey: Pete is generally the butt of many jokes by the other teens, most notably Hoops and Max. However, they mean it all in good fun and don't do it out of malicious intent.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mostly to himself as the others tend to tease him. That said, his comments are often dribbling with his awkwardness.Pete: I’m not sure putting my hands to my face works better than my glasses.
- Does Not Like Spam: He constantly compares any low-level snacks he eats to being "worse than his dad's/mom's brussel sprouts".
- Geek: Fulfills this role within the group. While he's teased for his references of various board games, videogames, and fantasy, his knowledge does actually come to help them in certain situations.Pete: Seven years' experience playing Minotaurs and Myrmidons leads me to believe that is not a good sound.
- Hidden Depths: Was once a boy scout. He also, despite his nerdy appearance and personality, is perfectly capable of holding his own in a fight.
- Nerd Glasses: Constantly adorned on his face.
- Punny Name: His name is a play on actual bogs, a form of wetland that accumulates decayed vegetation into a new form called peat.
- Puppy Love: It's implied he has a small crush on Willow.
- Scout-Out: Was a member of the local scout troop in his youth. Naturally, that experience comes in handy.
- Strict Parents Make Sneaky Kids: Pete mentions to Hoops that like her, his parents never let him eat junk food. This is something he and Hoops have in common.
- Endearingly Dorky: His dorky nature is certainly leaned into. While it's often the subject of ridicule among the other teens, it's usually lighthearted, and much of the dialogue suggests they enjoy this aspect of his character.Max: Pete, when we get out of this mess. I'll have you over to the house and we can geek out together.Hoops: Boggs, you're so adorable. And pathetic. Adorable and pathetic.Willow: Aw, Pete, but you're cute with that nerd-whose-skin-has-never-seen-the-light-of-the-sun chic.
Ally "Hoops" Nguyen
Voiced by: Charlotte Chung
"Hoops here! Ready to mix it up?"
The most energetic and happy-go-lucky of the group, and endears herself to each of them. She serves as The Lancer as well as the group's source of optimism.- Abusive Parents: Depending on how one can interpret a few of Hoops's lines, she may be in an abusive household and suffers from her parents projecting perfectionism onto her.
- Determinator: Comes with her optimism.
- Informed Attribute: Though Ally is implied to be an athlete, she plays no differently than the others.
- Genki Girl: Downplayed. Hoops, out of all the teens, is the most energetic and optimistic.
- Hidden Depths: Despite her optimism, a few of her voice lines seem to indicate a sense of low self-worth beyond her sports skills. Her voice lines also express annoyance over her parents' strictness, and tells Pete she wishes she could eat junk food sometimes or play video games, but her parents refuse.
- The Lancer: To Max. Pete is awkward, and Willow is melancholic. Naturally, Hoops works well with Max as opposed to the others.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: She is almost exclusively called "Hoops" by Max, Pete, Willow, and even Wendell! There's only a handful of instances in the game where she's referred by her real name.
- Outdoorsy Gal: It comes with her athleticism and energy.
- Passionate Sports Girl: If her nickname is anything to go by, anyways.
- The Pollyanna: Hoops rarely complains in-game and generally is the most energetic and cheery of the bunch.
- Punny Name: A play on the phrase "allie-oop", also the name of a shot in basketball.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Hoops tends to swear more out of the group, though it's often just simple "Damn it!".
- Sports Dad: Hoops mentions both her parents preferred her to be athletic.
- Strict Parents Make Sneaky Kids: Downplayed. Hoops, in conversation with Pete, mentions that her parents never let her play video games or eat junk food.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: A downplayed example, but Hoops serves as the Tomboy to Willow's Girly Girl.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Actually likes the color pink.
Other Characters
Tully Family
The Tully Family as seen in Wendell's Hedge Lab. Going Clockwise: Wendell, Sarah, Dan Hamster III, Thor, and Trudy.
The family of Wendell and the people who own the backyard. Various logs and files found in labs and other places detail Wendell's relationship with them.- Nuclear Family: There's Wendell, Trudy, Thor, and Sarah. Two parents, two kids.
- Picky Eater: All of them except Wendell dislike brussel sprouts, much to Wendell's confusion.
Dr. Wendell Tully
Wendell during 1989, a year before the game.
Voiced by: Zachary Levi
A brilliant scientist that was once part of Ominent Technologies. Although his motives and his connections to the teens' predicament are unknown, he invented the shrinking technology that kicks off the plot. He has been missing for several months since the start of the game. He owns the house and backyard that the game takes place in.- Absent-Minded Professor: A downplayed variation, but Wendell has traits of this and it's even called out on my his wife and even himself at times.
- Ambition Is Evil: Wendell's isn't evil per se, but his absolute dedication to his shrinking technology led him to prioritizing it over his other obligations, resulting in his termination from Ominent, Trudy taking the kids and leaving him, and eventually, the start of the game itself.
- The Atoner: Upon meeting the teens in his shed lab, Wendell resolves to help them get un-shrunk as a means to try and repent for his past wrongdoings, and even goes with them to confront Schmector.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Wendell doesn't understand why Trudy seems so against his experiments and why she doesn't support him, and when she leaves him and takes the kids, Wendell acts like he doesn't need her or her nagging. But as later logs show, he comes to genuinely miss her and admits she was right "as usual" and desperately wishes she would return. At the end of the game it's best displayed where she comes back and their relationship is repaired, regardless of which ended is received.
- Black Comedy: Wendell's either quite oblivious or has a dark sense of humor. In his Oak Lab, he has a framed picture of a younger Thor and Sarah feeding Dan Hamster III a stick of gum. In one of his logs, he mentions retrieving Trudy's wedding ring from the stomach of their koi fish. While that's good, he also happens to cause it to lose an eye (though that was an accident) and then proceeds to make a poem about it.
- Bumbling Dad: Wendell is often too invested in his work to notice Thor and Sarah, even going so far as to complain about them playing in their backyard and thereby disturbing his work!. Downplayed in that he genuinely does love them, he's just ultimately too absorbed in his work.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Wendell is snarky, sarcastic, and can be forgetful, but he's a genuinely intelligent man and has created several inventions that exceed the technology of the time.
- Body Horror: The raisining hits Wendell hard. As you go through the game, you find picture of him withering away to a gaunt shell of his normal self. When you meet him in person, he's been reduced to a shriveled head in a floating jar.
- Character Development: Originally a mostly selfish, ambitious, and prideful man who walks over people and blames others for his own faults. Then after going through severe raisining, being left by his wife and kids, and the knowledge that Ominent terminated him and stole his work, makes him realize that his dreams weren't worth losing the things he cared about. After he meets with the four teens though, he resolves to at least do some good with what little time he has left.
- In the best ending of the game, his narration says that he's realized that the only thing that matters is spending time with your loved ones and when he's cured of his raisining, he starts a scholarship fund for the teens and repairs his relationships with his family. He acknowledges that while he still plans to invent things, he's realized his hubris and is a bit more self-aware.
- Cool Teacher: At the end, he's implied to go back to his teaching job at the local high school after his raisining his cured and he forms a club with the four teens, as well as establishing the Tully Scholarship for them.
- Deadpan Snarker: He is full of snark and sarcasm in his voice logs.
- Did Not Think This Through:
- Wendell sets up his final main lab within the Black Anthill, overtaking about half of it and constantly exploits the colony as protection. The Black Ants, in return, rise up and destroy the lab, forcing Wendell to abandon it. Even he mentions he should have seen it coming in retrospect.
- Finding an audio log near at a field station near the woodpile has Wendell mention that after he was terminated from Ominent, he stole a bunch of their equipment to continue his research. A few months later, he comes to realize Ominent found out about it, much to his confusion as he "took such precautions!". Wendell genuinely didn't seem to piece together that maybe the guy who they just terminated, a known Workaholic, could have had something to do with it?
- Drowning My Sorrows: Starts drinking heavily after His family leaves him and his raisining condition gets worse. This leads him to accidentally creating the Haze fungus.
- Everyone Has Standards: Is repulsed when he finds out Ominent stole his work and experimented on innocent children, remarking that the teens are hardly older than his son and daughter.
- Fatal Flaw: Ambition. Desperately wishes to create a name and legacy for himself, but ends up costing him dearly and starting off the events of the game.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Becomes this with the teens in the best ending. A newspaper article even has him posing with his arms around them for their new club and scholarship.
- Friend to All Children: Refuses to have his own kids involved with his work knowing the danger it contains, and is nothing but friendly to the teens when they find him in his shed lab.
- The Ghost: Only encountered through voice logs scattered around the backyard and his written files. Averted once you find his lab underneath the shed…albeit not as his normal self.
- Good Parents: Surprisingly, Wendell himself isn't a bad father, he just gets way too absorbed in his work in his pursuit of recognition. He has a loving relationship with Thor and Sarah and his audio logs make it quite clear that despite them annoying him (mostly because their antics in the backyard disrupt his work), he makes sure they're well provided and loved. That said, he's not without his faults as a parent, but it's still clear he loves his kids.
- Played With at the end of the game where he creates the Tully Scholarship Fund for Max, Willow, Pete, and Hoops. He happily stands for a picture with the four and presumably works with them at their Science and Robotics Club.
- Happily Married: Despite their differences, all signs point towards him and Trudy having a happy marriage.
- Heel Realization: After Trudy leaves him and takes the kids, getting fired from his job, accidentally creating the Haze fungus, and upon learning that Ominent was been experimenting on children and stolen the basis of his works, Wendell realizes how low he's gotten and fully admits he took things too far. Near the end of the game, after meeting the teens, Wendell resolves to right his wrongs and help the four get un-shrunk.
- Heroic BSoD: His status as a "hero" can be debated (though he's not exactly evil), but he goes through this after realizing how much he's messed up as a father and husband.
- Hidden Depths: Wendell, at face value, seems like an arrogant scientist who believes he's the best thing since sliced bread and never takes fault for anything. But listening to logs, reading his journals, and even his own dialogue reveals that he just wanted recognition. He also never meant for things to turn out as badly as they did, and after his Heel Realization, resolves to try and make things right by helping out the four teens.
- He also genuinely loves Trudy, Thor, and Sarah. When Trudy leaves him, he at first insists he doesn't need her and her constant nagging, but soon he comes to miss her greatly and wishes she'd come back, remarking that she was "always right" and he was an idiot for pushing her away.
- While Wendell gets annoyed that Thor and Sarah occasionally disrupt his work, he bends over backwards to make sure they know they're loved and support them. In the Undershed lab, he reflects on how much he misses his kids.
- He's a surprisingly articulate poet and expressive artist as well. Many of the whiteboards in his labs are covered in diagrams and drawings that while simple, are enough to convey his intentions and mental stability.
- Literal Metaphor: Wendell seems to represent what happens when unchecked ambition goes too far and remains that way, seeing as how Wendell's constant obsession with renown and legacy drove away his family and caused the events of the game.
- I Hate Past Me: When the teens find him in his undershed lab, it's rather clear he regrets his past choices.
- Intergenerational Friendship: With the teens in the true ending of the game. Upon meeting them, he's repulsed that Ominent used children as guinea pigs and warms up to the group and accompanies them on their adventures in his backyard.
- More than Just a Teacher: He got fired from Ominent and was forced to take up a job at the local High School to make ends meet. Little does everyone know that he's a rather brilliant scientist who invented shrinking technology.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Wendell realizes the consequences of his actions during his stay at the Black Anthill Lab, realizing his desperate need for recognition pushed away his family, caused himself to start raisining, the creation of the Haze fungus, and eventually allowing Ominent to take all the credit for his hard work. That said, after his Heel Realization, he decides to help the four teens get un-shrunk.
- Nice Guy: Despite his Jerkass tendencies, Wendell is an amiciable man and easy to friend. He's quick to help out the teens after he discovers they've been shrunk, and treats them fairly.
- Never My Fault: Wendell thinks very highly of himself and blames others for his misfortunes. That is, until Trudy leaves him and takes his kids, he gets terminated from Ominent, and his raisining gets worse. It's then he realizes what an ass he's been and resolves to help the teens get un-shrunk.
- No OSHA Compliance: BURG.L mentions that the last thing he and Wendell need is another investigation of their work from OSHA.
- Only Sane Man: He certainly thinks of himself to be this.
- Papa Wolf: Downplayed, but he has traits of this. When he finds out Sarah was bitten by an insect in the yard, he shrinks himself down to go hunt it. He also makes sure to keep Thor and Sarah away from his labs and work mostly because of his ego, but also because he worries for their safety.
- Parents as People: The absent-minded professor variety; one voice log relates his experiment on some toys that were supposed to be for his son's birthday, and often pushes his children away from his work life. Despite this, it's clear he cares for them a great deal.
- Picky Eater: Inverted. In one of Wendell's logs, he mentions with the utmost confusion that he's the only member of his family to enjoy Brussel Sprouts. It actually is what makes him create the Muscle Sprouts in the Pond Lab.
- Properly Paranoid: After being fired from Ominent and his family leaves him, Wendell begins to slip into desperation and insanity as he begins to believe there are eyes everywhere and watching him. The teens reason it's just because of his poor mental health, but it turns out Wendell was right: Ominent was spying on him.
- The Power of Legacy: Desperately wants to create a legacy for himself and not be ordinary, which inadvertantly kickstarts the game. By the end though, he's realized that the thing that matters most is spending time with the ones you love.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He joins the teens after they find him at his undershed lab, but notes they have been managing on their own and only provides insight and guidance. At the ending where he gets cured of his raisining, he forms the Science and Robotics Club with the teens and BURG.L with him as it's lead and even forms a scholarship fund for Max, Pete, Willow, and Hoops.
- Red Herring: As the teens uncover logs and documents about and from Wendell, it's implied that his legacy is all he cares about and is perfectly willing to sacrifice anyone to get it, even going so far as to kidnap kids from their local high school where he teaches and experiment on them. Upon meeting him and finding Ominent's true motivations though, turns out their assumptions about him were largely wrong.
- Sanity Slippage: After Trudy and the kids leave him, and his raisining condition worsens, he starts drinking and pushing himself to work on mutating things with Raw Science. This unfortunately gives birth to the mutated fungi that mutate the bugs in The Haze. After seeing this, he realizes he’s made a mistake, vows to fix himself and everything, and retreats to the black ant lab.
- Shared Family Quirks: Going off what both Wendell and Trudy say about their kids, Thor and Sarah seem to have inherited Wendell's quirks such as his deadpan humor.
- Workaholic: Oh boy, is he! Wendell becomes so absorbed in his work that he eventually begins to neglect his family and other obligations.
Trudy Tully
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: She very much disagrees with Wendell's practices and even leaves him and takes the kids when she realizes how absorbed in his work he is, but she ultimately does love him and in the end, regardless of either ending the player gets, she comes back to him.
- Dead Guy Junior: The Koi Fish in the pond is named "Trudy II" by Wendell after it ate her wedding ring. Downplayed and Played for Drama however as Trudy left Wendell and took the kids due to him prioritizing his research over spending time with the family.
- Happily Married: She loves Wendell very much, despite his setbacks and their differences. One of the reasons why she leaves him is because she genuinely cannot bear to see him destroy himself by being so absorbed in his inventions.
- Picky Eater: According to Wendell, she doesn't like Brussel Sprouts, much to his confusion.
Thor Tully
- Fleeting Passionate Hobby: Wendell mentions Mants as Thor's "obsession of the month", and other logs and journals indicate Thor has a unique interest in Myrmidons and Minotaurs, a game he likes.
- Geek: Thor is the owner of the Myrmidons and Minotaurs playset on the picnic table. In one of Wendell's logs, he mentions buying some miniature dice for Thor for Christmas in 1987. Thor also seems to like Greek mythology if his playsets are anything to go by.
- Picky Eater: According to Wendell, he doesn't like Brussel Sprouts, much to his confusion.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Thor has a special interest in "Mants", an insect with the mind of a human from his Myrmidons and Minotaurs playset. Wendell, when recalling Thor's obsession over the subject, gives him the idea to create one himself.
Sarah Tully
- Daddy's Girl: Downplayed, but Sarah appears to be closer to Wendell than she is to Trudy. Wendell also clearly loves her fiercely and mentions how she always leap into his arms when he finished work as he got home.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Appears to be one going off what Wendell and Trudy say.
- Picky Eater: According to Wendell, she doesn't like Brussel Sprouts, much to his confusion.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: A minor one. Sarah was the one who threw the frisbee into the Hedge, where the Broodmother eventually made its nest thanks to the frisbee being stuck. This in turn led to the infestation of the Hedge lab and forcing Wendell to abandon it.
Dan Hamster III
The pet hamster of Thor and Sarah.
- Brick Joke: You can find a picture of Thor and Sarah feeding Dan a stick of gum. When you stumble onto his skeleton late in the game, the chewed up wad of gum is still there.
- Posthumous Character: Dan has died prior to the four teens getting shrunk, as evident by the tombstone and found skeleton of him in the southwest portion of the map.
- Replacement Goldfish: Is apparently the third Dan Hamster to have been owned by the family.
Ominent Practical Technologies
In General
The overarching tech company that (formally) contained the scientist who invented the shrinking technology which led to the kids being shrunken down.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: By kicking out Dr. Wendall Tully, he goes on a drunken binge, which result in The Haze Fungus being created. and Tully to continue work on the SPAC.R which results in a few kids getting shrunken down accidentally. Averted hard however, once it’s revealed that Ominent was the one who shrunk the kids, and stole Tully’s research for their own.
Director Dalton Shmector
Voiced by: Roger Craig Smith
The director of the science division Dr. Wendell Tully worked for.- Be Careful What You Wish For: Dalton's biggest desire is fame, for the whole world to know his name. In the Golden Ending, he gets just that, as he's arrested and his crimes are printed all over the world.
- Big Bad: It's his experiments with Tully's shrinking technology that resulted in the kids getting shrunk in the first place as live human test subjects to counteract the effects of the Raisening, and he was willing to have them be disposed of after the success was verified to avoid investigations into their kidnapping, but he's otherwise seemingly completely absent from the narrative...until the mysterious lab, whereupon it's revealed that he had been secretly spying on Tully's work throughout the yard as the doctor had suspected, and attempts to dispose of both Tully and the kids with a shrunken armored drone.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: His disgruntled former employee, Wendell, begrudgingly admits Dalton is genuinely brilliant, but prefers to ride off the success of others rather than do the work himself.
- Bad Boss: Wendell describes him as an egotistical maniac who wants to claim the success of others to prop himself up. More damning, Schmector orders the deaths of the teens after successfully shrinking them to remove any loose ends.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Invoked and pointed out by the teens by his less-than-intimidating name and how fitting it is for their common enemy.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: An egomaniacal, insufferable monster with a pair of sinister spectacles.
-
Money, Dear Boy: Wendell says that Dalton rides off the success of others for money, regardless of what he has to do to achieve it. When confronted, Dalton even says as much. - Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Inverted. Upon hearing his name in a dream, the teens poke fun at the name "Director Shmector" and how it sounds like a the name of a saturday morning cartoon villain.
- Obviously Evil: A deliberately invoked trope as the story unfolds.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Does this to Wendell once he almost perfects the SPAC.R, though merely fires him.
- Played straight with the teens, where he simply orders them disposed of once the shrinking process is shown to work.
- Would Hurt a Child: He has no moral compunctions about having innocent children kidnapped and used as lab rats... and then disposed of to cover up. The good ending outright says that the company is held responsible for several deaths of children.
BURG.L
Voiced by: Josh Brener
A repurposed grilling robot that assists the player by providing advice and blueprints for more advanced crafting recipes.- Badass in Distress: Downplayed. When first encountered after accidentally blowing up the secret lab, BURG.L will be found down on the ground requiring the assistance of the player to get back up
- Berserk Button: Well Done burgers.
- Butt-Monkey: Wendell doesn't hate him, but often pushes him around and berates BURG.L for his eccentric attitude.
- Cheerful A.I.: Rarely, if ever, says anything remotely negative. Unless it's well-done burgers, that is.
- Cloudcuckoolander: A downplayed variant, but he can be rather eccentric at times, much to the annoyance of the teens and Wendell.
- Department of Redundancy Department: He's a master of cooking and grilling.
- Deadpan Snarker: Does this unintentionally.
- Electronic Speech Impediment: Justified, as he was knocked around from the lab explosion.
- Expositron 9000: A robot who dispenses information.
- Hidden Depths: Was originally a robot designed by Wendell to work at a burger restaurant, and as such BURG.L has some rather intricate knowledge of grilling and cooking. It's also worth mentioning that despite his jovial and sometimes clumsy attitude, Wendell keeps him around anyways.
- Mook Promotion: He was Wendell's assistant before being promoted to "Acting Manager" following Wendell's disappearance.
- Mr. Exposition: He serves as this for the most part, but the teens are required to explore and find data chips to help restore his memory.
- Nice Guy: Happily helps the teens in their journey to un-shrink themselves and find Wendell Tully.
- Quest Giver: Will give you Raw Science in exchange for completing simple jobs, like killing enough of a specific bug.
- No OSHA Compliance: BURG.L mentions that the last thing he and Wendell need is another investigation of their work from OSHA.BURG.L: Just do not mention anything to OSHA. The last thing I need is another investigation into underage labor practices.
- Robot Buddy: Helps the player out by giving advice, and can offer valuable blueprints in exchange for Raw Science.
- Sad Clown: A generally jovial character, but mentions he's rather lonely.
- The Pollyanna: Moreso than Hoops at times.
- Training from Hell: Puts the player through this in order to unlock the "Meat Shield" and "Buff Lungs" mutations.
TAYZ.T
A series of robots which defend the various labs from intruders... including the player.
- Shock and Awe: Their main attack is using an electrified baton to smack the player into submission.
- Underground Monkey: RUS.T is a statistically weaker but otherwise identical version of TAYZ.T found in the hedge lab.
ARC.R
An advanced variant of the TAYZ.T that has a devastating ranged attack, and more health.
- Shock and Awe: Launches massive electric balls at the player as their main attack.
The Bugs
In General
- Attack Its Weakpoint: Certain bugs are weak to being hit in certain areas on their bodies, though they usually require a specific damage type to attack.
- Berserk Button: Regardless of species, killing too many of one type of bug results in a swarm of them personally coming to raid your base and kill you.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Comparatively speaking.
- Body Horror: Bugs infected with the fungus have it growing out of them, but special mention goes to the infected wolf spider. It has fungus growing out of its middle left eye, and its entire abdomen has a large gash where the fungus sprouts out of.
- Organ Drops: Bugs drop body parts or organs when harvested after death.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Whenever a bug agros onto a player, their eyes gain a red glow.
- Set a Mook to Kill a Mook: While most bugs are neutral to each other, they can and will fight each other if one accidentally hits another (usually with a ranged projectile).
- Would Hurt a Child: Most of the bugs are hostile, or neutral at best.
Red Ants/Black Ants/Fire Ants
Colonies of ants that have inhabited different areas of the backyard. Come in two varieties - the more common, naturally-neutralnote worker ants and the hardier, aggressive soldier ants that tend to stick closer to their anthills. While most worker ants are neutral to the player at first, they can be an early-game nuisance, sneaking into players encampments to eat their cooked food and steal from their chests if left unguarded or out in the open.
- Artificial Brilliance: If the player engages a fight between a worker, and the worker gets injured enough, it will stop fighting and attempt to run back to it's respective colony so it can come back with reinforcements. The player can chase it down and finish the job, or let it flee. This rarely occurs in a group of ants.
- Ant Assault: They are the most common enemies the player will encounter. They will demolish the player's encampments to eat any food the player has stored and swarm the player when they get hostile.
- Berserk Button: Any ant that sees you attacking any other ant for any reason will turn hostile and attack, even the Workers. They also don't appreciate you taking their eggs.
- Workers will attack Weevils on sight.
- Bandit Mook: Workers will try to steal items from your chests if you store food in them. They also take food left on the floor and meat off of cooking spits.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Wounded workers will abandon the fight if they're losing, fleeing back to their respective colony for reinforcements.
- Lightning Bruiser: Black ants are considerably tougher than red ants, and just as fast. And Fire Ants are even tougher than the Black Ants!
- Summon Bigger Fish: A wounded worker will, if it can, flee back to the colony and come back with some soldiers to deal with the problem.
- Tastes Like Friendship: If you're able to cobble together the ant queens' respective treat for each anthill, and give it to her, then the ants of that particular queen become passive to you, and even give you a baby ant as a pet! Of course, there's nothing stopping you from lacing a queen's favorite snack with poison or fungus…
- Zerg Rush: One ant is fairly easy to take down. But there's almost never one ant.
Antlion
Large, hostile bugs that have infested the Sandbox. Hit very hard and are one of the tougher enemies in the game, but thankfully are only found within the Sandbox biome.
- Ambushing Enemy: They emerge from the sand and chase players once they've spotted one.
- Antlion Monster: Both played straight and subverted; some antlions will emerge and chase players on-foot, but there exist variants that remain in their burrows, tossing ants and sand at players from far away to force them into biting range.
- Dig Attack: One of their unique attacks is burrowing underground and emerging in front of the player, which if not perfect blocked deals heavy shield damage and is likely to stagger them for a free hit.
- Lightning Bruiser: Their pincer attacks are very deadly and wide-reaching, enough to kill players in a couple good hits.
- Unique Enemy: Are only encountered in the Sandbox on the west side of the yard, but there are quite a lot of them.
- Worm Sign: A bit less visible in the Sandbox biome, but their digging around still pushes up some sand.
Aphid
Tiny, rabbit-like creatures found almost everywhere in the yard. They can be tamed by letting them eat bowls of grass slurry, providing players with a stamina bonus while running. They are also a very common source of food.
- Cool Pet: Can be tamed by feeding them bowls of grass slurry. They'll either follow the player around or rest at home in a pet house, providing a bonus to the player's stamina while running. You can also give them a hat made of other bug parts.
- Cowardly Mooks: Upon spotting a player or a hostile bug, they let out a soft shriek and flee, attempting to climb up a nearby grass blade to stay out of melee range. They'll remain here until the coast is clear, but players can still throw items such as rocks or shoot arrows at them to kill them, or hit the base of the blade to knock them loose.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Their soft chirping noises and skittish behavior can be quite endearing.
Bee
A colony of bees that occasionally fly throughout the yard, pollenating flowers. They coalesce near the honey jar on the picnic table, and become aggressive against players who get too close.
- Bee Afraid: Zig-zagged; they only become hostile if you attack them first, approach the honey jar on the picnic table, or are wearing the Bard's Tudor.
- Gentle Giant: So long as you don't get near the honey jar on the picnic table, they are neutral unless provoked by attacking them.
- Status Infliction Attack: Hostile bees will occasionally create clouds of pollen by shaking it off of their bodies, which debuffs the player's movement speed.
Black Ox Beetle
A very sturdy and aggressive beetle that resides in the upper yard.
- Background Music Override: Black Ox Beetles have their own unique Leitmotif that plays when fighting them.
- Boulder Bludgeon: If a player is out of reach, Black Ox Beetles will dig up a large pebble out of the ground and fling it towards them for unblockable (if not using a shield) damage.
- Foe-Tossing Charge: One of its attacks involves it attempting to ram into the player. If it connects, the player will be knocked down to the ground.
- Lightning Bruiser: Not only does he hit like a freight train, he's faster than he looks.
- Made of Iron: It takes quite a bit of punishment to bring the beast down.
- Tough Beetles: It's a very sturdy and durable beetle that is strong enough to throw large pebbles at the player.
Bombardier Beetle
Large, hostile beetles found in various areas throughout the yard. Mostly a ranged combatant, attacking with boiling chemical shots from their Butt Cannon.
- Area of Effect: Their ranged projectiles leave behind puddles of boiling goop that sap your health if you stand in them.
- Butt Cannon: True to life, their main attack is to spray boiling chemicals from their rear.
Firefly
Neutral flying bugs generally found in the lower areas of the yard, particularly near the swamps. When aggroed, they fly around the player, attacking them with ranged 'glow goo' splashes.
- Butt Cannon: When angry, they'll spew out 'glow goo' from their rear.
Gnat
Small, adorable fuzzballs that are attracted to light and the player. They can get annoying at times, but they're (usually) harmless. They can be tamed by repeatedly feeding them spoiled slurries made from spoiled food, and provide players with a bonus that increases how far they can glide with dandelion tufts. Their meat also acts as a common source of food. Infected variants exist within the Haze, although they don't actually harm the player but instead cause them to drop their tools when they bump into them.
- Harmless Enemy: The regular gnat is completely unable to hurt the player directly, at most shoving them ever so slightly. Even the infected variant just makes you drop your currently held item instead of doing any damage. The meaty variant however can damage you if you don't have a gas mask equipped.
- Melee Disarming: Infected gnats cause you to drop your held item if they bump into you.
- Somewhere, an Entomologist Is Crying: Gnats more closely resemble sewer flies, sharing their non biting nature, fuzzball look and relative harmlessness. True gnats visually resemble a smaller mosquito and bite humans.
Grub
Small, docile bugs that prefer to burrow underground near the Oak Tree and certain other areas of the backyard. Once dug up with a shovel, their hides can be harvested to make certain armor sets and weapons.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Of a sort. You'll almost certainly find one tunneling around at the end of the cave you clear of Mites to fix the faulty laser at the start of the game, likely well before you've visited the tree and collected the acorn pieces for the spade you need to dig one up.
- Worm Sign: Can be spotted by their digging noises and small chunks of dirt shifting near the surface.
Ladybird
Tougher variants of the Ladybug found in the upper yard.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: Contrasting the (normally) gentle Ladybug, the Ladybird comes with a black shell and red spots. And is aggressive and much tougher.
Ladybug
Large, neutral bugs that wander throughout the lower grasslands. When aggroed, they can charge at enemies like bulls and bash with their shells, dealing heavy damage. Infected variants can be found within the Haze biome and around the yard once it spreads, with one in particular serving as a mini-boss for the Haze Lab.
- Berserk Button: Aphids. Ladybugs will cut down grass to kill an aphid.
- Gentle Giant: They'll only attack you if you attack them first. Averted with the infected ladybugs found in the Haze, who attack you on sight.
- Mighty Glacier: Slow, but one of the few bugs capable of shoving grass aside as it walks.
- Not So Harmless: Don't get between them and their aphid prey, and be very prepared before you attack one. They're even capable of slaughtering groups of ants should they accidentally provoke one chasing an aphid. They become much more dangerous in the Haze, where the gain access to multiple new attacks,and a truck ton more health.
- Tough Beetles: Ladybugs are some of the larger enemies and they have a lot of health and can use a powerful charge attack that can stun the player after the strike. However, they don't actively seek to attack the player and fight only in retaliation; otherwise, they are pretty peaceful.
Larvae
The younger, more aggressive form of ladybugs and ladybirds, or possibly lacewing larvae. Found in various areas throughout the yard, with ladybird larvae showing up in the upper sections and infected variants showing up in the Haze.
- Ambushing Enemy: Ladybird Larvae play this straight, emerging from the ground when they spot players. Some normal larva in certain areas act as a cross between this and Chest Monster, mimicking the digging animations of Grubs until the player digs them up and finds them instead.
- Darkness Equals Death: They primarily spawn at night, and attack as soon as they see you.
- Glass Cannon: They have quick, painful attacks, but not too much health. Averted with the Infected and Ladybird variants, which have far more health.
- Summon Bigger Fish: Like ants and termites, larvae that are low on health will attempt to retreat and signal other larvae to back them up.
- Worm Sign: Indistinguishable from a grub's visually, making them somewhat of a Chest Monster. Listening closely can clue players in, however, since their digging sounds are louder and you can hear their chittering noises while they're underground.
- Zerg Rush: Not to the same degree as the ants, but they almost always patrol in groups of at least 3.
Mites/Ticks
Various small but hostile arachnids commonly found in large groups. There are four distinct types - lawn mites found in the lower yard, infected mites in the Haze biome, dust mites around the shed and ticks found in the northeast upper yards, mostly around the large stump.
- The Goomba: Lawn mites go down very easily, even in groups. Others, not so much.
- Underground Monkey: Three types - Infected mites, which are found in the Haze and can shoot fungal projectiles from a distance. The dust mites found on the rug near the shed fire projectiles that coat the area in dust clouds, lowering players' movement and attack speeds. Finally, there are ticks, found largely near the Stump biome, which have much more durability and deal way more damage, but are otherwise similar to the lawn mite variety.
Mosquitos/Tiger Mosquitos
Flying bloodsuckers who lurk near the pond. Their tougher cousin, the Tiger Mosquito, lurks in the upper yard.
- Mosquito Miscreants: Mosquitoes are dangerous late-game enemies that are very aggressive and will attack the player on sight, chasing them for quite a very long time.
- Super-Persistent Predator: By way of being one of the only flying enemy in the game, the Mosquito will chase you for a long time before giving up.
Moths
Nocturnal and extremely rare creatures, typically found snoozing in certain spots in the northeast section of the upper yard.
- Damage Over Time: All of their attacks (except the headbutt) will cause you to bleed.
- Moth Menace: Zig-zagged; moths are normally non-hostile and docile, but when provoked, they will fight back, even causing bleeding with their dust.
- Sleepyhead: Chances are you won't even see a moth unless you're really looking, because they tend to sleep all hours of the day.
Roly-Poly
Common pill bugs who live in the upper yard. Gentle and will leave the player alone unless attacked. Sickly, slightly-weaker variants can be found in the western areas of the lower yard.
- Gentle Giant: Like the Ladybug, the Roly-Poly will leave you be so long as you do the same in return.
- Regenerating Health: If sufficiently damaged, the Roly-Poly will curl up and begin rapidly healing itself. You'll need to stun or land a critical hit on it to prevent it from gaining back too much health.
- Spin Attack: If angered, it will roll into a defensive ball and launch itself at you.
Scarabs
A very rare, skittish bug occasionally seen around the shed area. Drops its shell upon defeat, which is used in recipes for weapon upgrading.
- Fragile Speedster: They aren't terribly hardy, but unless you exploit their elemental weaknesses to kill them in one shot, their ridiculous speed makes landing another hit before they disappear very challenging without precise aiming and timing.
- Metal Slime: They're very rare, and will scutter away at blinding speeds if approached or attacked, eventually digging into the ground and despawning. Their shells are used in the recipe for Jewels, which allow you to upgrade your weapons to deal maximum damage.
Spiders
Various hostile spiders prowl the backyard in search of small prey, including shrunken teenagers. There are four main varieties - Orb Weaver Spiders (Argiope aurantia), Wolf Spiders (likely Rabidosa rabida), Diving Bell Spiders (Argyroneta aquatica) and Black Widow Spiders (Latrodectus), as well as young Spiderlings.
- Aquatic Mook: Think you're safe in the depths of the pond from spiders? The Diving Bell Spiders that reside there would like to make their presence known. They don't hit as hard as their terrestrial cousins, but they are MUCH more common.
- Artificial Brilliance: The Spiders have set territories they inhabit in the garden, and once you enter, they will begin moving towards you. Once they reach an area you've been, they'll start following along your trail, even pausing where you pause. This can lead to a Spider effectively stalking you with disturbing effect if you see it before it sees you, and if it does see you... run.
- Artistic License – Biology: Orb Weavers in real life mostly stay on their webs and wait for prey, as opposed to the aggressive wandering hunters they are here. Black Widows are also treated as the toughest spiders to kill, resisting three of the four elemental damage types and having absurd health, but realistically, they're much more frail than a Wolf Spider.
- Background Music Override: They get their own special music to sell just how dangerous they are, instead of the generic tribal drum beats for any other bugs you fight.
- The Berserker: Black Widows get faster and faster the less health they have, making them even more absurdly dangerous once their health drops below half.
- Boss in Mook Clothing: While all spiders in this game are tough to some degree, the Black Widow is, fittingly, on a whole other level. Thankfully only encountered in the outer northern perimeters of the yard, this terror not only has a mammoth health pool, but resists ALL forms of damage, period, so any attempts to bring one down will no doubt be long and cumbersome - that is, if you can even survive its onslaught for more than a few seconds, as its lightning-fast speed, brutal damage and ability to inflict three stacks of venom (which bypasses Mithridatism) instead of poison on hit can bring even end-game players from full health to dead in record time. Unless you're really that determined to get its drops for full completion marks, you're better off steering way clear of these things.
- Discard and Draw: The Black Widow got a large rework on the 1.3 Make It and Break It update. It lost its resistances to the four physical damage types, became weak to sour, had its damage reduced slightly and is no longer immune to poison. In exchange, the Widow gained 500 extra health (up to 3000), a new web shot attack that spawns a Widowling, and can consume nearby Widowlings, gaining a 50% attack speed boost and health regeneration.
- Elite Mook: Spiders are generally the toughest bugs in their tier. They have large healthpools, hit hard, attack quickly, and can shred any player that hasn't mastered perfect blocking with their poisonous bites.
- Giant Spider: To you, anyway. The games' first, 'boss' is the Broodmother, an exceptionally large and strong Wolf Spider living on top of the flying disc lodged in the hedge.
- Hell Is That Noise: That low hissing when Orb Weavers spot you will send chills down your spine every time you hear it. The snarling growls of a Wolf or Black Widow spider will make you flinch when they catch you off guard. The gurgling and distorted cries of a Diving Bell spider is enough to raise your hairs.
- Implacable Man: Downplayed. They'll eventually give up the chase if you get enough distance, and large enough obstacles will cause them to lose you, but normal foliage won't slow them down. Spider webs, which block off narrow passages in and out of their territories, can grab you, but will let spiders through unhindered.
- In a Single Bound: Think you can stay safe on high ground and snipe away at a Wolf Spider with ranged weapons? Nope. They'll jump up to your position and tear you apart in close quarters.
- Lightning Bruiser: Very fast, very tough, hit very hard. Wolf Spiders can poison you, and they can jump.
- Mama Bear: It's not a specifically programmed response, but if you find yourself smashing a bunch of Spiderlings, chances are you're deep in a Spider's territory, and it will be after you very soon.
- Mini Mook: Spiderlings are much weaker and smaller than the player variants of spiders that will attack you just as aggressively as their larger brethren. Widowlings are much more dangerous, but just as small as Spiderlings. Orb Weaver Jrs. are about the same size as the player and are weaker than the large adult Orb Weavers, but should still be taken as a serious threat.
- One-Hit Kill: If you don't have armor, Wolf Spiders can do this to you on anything other than Creative or Easy Mode.
- Three-Strike Combo: Orb Weavers can attack quickly three times in succession, with two quick attacks and a powerful finisher. Wolf Spiders and Black Widows upgrade this to a five strike combo.
- Underground Monkey: Smaller, weaker Orb Weavers inhabit the hedge maze.
Stinkbugs/Green Shield Bugs
Large, hostile bugs usually located in areas with lots of dry grass. Often attacks foes by summoning large clouds of Deadly Gas.
- Deadly Gas: A couple of their attacks summon a large gas cloud that deals toxicity damage over time while standing in it, unless you have specific smoothie buffs or are wearing a gas mask.
- Fartillery: They'll create a "stink zone" that damages you if you stand in it.
- Mighty Glacier: To a lesser extent than the ladybugs, but they can still shove grass aside as they move.
Termites
A large colony of hostile termites that has infested the log pile near the shed in the backyard. Comes in worker and soldier varieties, similar to ants. A King Termite resides within the lower recesses of the log pile, guarding an optional BURG.L upgrade chip.
- Acid Attack: Worker Termites can shoot globs of acid at the player, similar to bombardier beetles.
- King Mook: The King Termite, which is only located within the log pile next to an optional BURG.L chip.
- Mini-Boss: The King Termite doesn't get any special fanfare, nor does it require any special summoning items. It's mostly just a Termite Soldier but bigger, beefier, meaner, and faster.
- Summon Bigger Fish: If you're fighting one and it gets low on health, it will try to retreat and call for reinforcements, much like ants and larvae.
- Zerg Rush: Much like the ants, a single Termite or Termite Soldier is relatively easy to deal with. A group of them is another story.
Wasps
Wasps (Most likely Yellowjackets) who reside in the upper yards.
- Arch-Enemy: Bees. The wasps will ignore players they were attacking if a bee is detected nearby.
- Background Music Override: They share the Black Ox Beetle's theme, Stronger Than You Think We Are.
- Incredibly Durable Enemies: While the regular wasp's health is just above a fire ant worker, and a wasp drone's health is lower than that, they have an innate 25% damage resist, and also resist most forms of ranged combat (heavily reduced damage from arrows and spicy staff in particular). A salt morning star will make short work of them however if you can actually land some hits.
- Mook Commander: Wasp Drones compared to regular wasps prefer to sit back and take potshots at you, while buffing their brethren with regenerating health and adding the ability to make their attacks cause bleed.
- Wicked Wasps: Mean, big, aggressive and very tough hornets.
Water Boatman
Docile bugs that swim around in the koi pond and flee if attacked. Drop their fins on death, which are used to make a set of swimming fins for the player to increase their underwater movement speed.
- Harmless Enemy: Are passive creatures that cannot attack.
- Unique Enemy: Only found in the upper areas of the koi pond.
Water Flea/Spiny Water Flea
Transparent creatures who reside in deep pools of water and drainage pipes throughout the yard. Their meat can be harvested and used as food.
- Fiendish Fish: Not in the traditional sense, but they are hostile and largely serve as piranha-like creatures that swarm players who swim around in deep enough ponds.
- Zerg Rush: Later game areas with deep pools of water will have Spiny Water Fleas appear by the dozen, leading to them swarming the player if they get submerged.
Weevil
Docile insects that roam about various areas of the backyard. Can be tamed by feeding them mushroom slurry, which provides a bonus that slows the player's thirst drain. They are also another common source of food. Infected, hostile variants can be found within the Haze that sprint up to players and explode after a short period of time.
- Action Bomb: The "infected" variant will explode upon approaching the player or taking enough damage.
- Cool Pet: Can be tamed with mushroom slurry, providing the player with a bonus that lowers the rate of their thirst meter drain.
- Not So Harmless: The aforementioned "infected" weevils in the Haze.
Bosses
The Broodmother
A terrifying Demon Orb Weaver spider found in the Hedge. Responsible for the Hedge Lab’s spider infestation.
- Beware the Skull Base: The Broodmother resides in a spider’s nest it constructed littered with the half or fully-cocooned bodies of the insects it has killed and devoured.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Her attacks are MUCH slower than the Orb Weavers and Wolf Spiders you've likely been practicing on, meaning you'll need to HEAVILY delay your timing to perfect block her slow but powerful bites.
- Dead Guy on Display: Her lair is littered with the husks of insects she (presumably) had eaten.
- Flunky Boss: Summons Orb Weaver Jr. spiders when it reaches certain damage thresholds.
- Optional Boss: Defeating it is not necessary to complete the game, but its parts can be used to craft powerful weapons and armor.
The Assistant Manager
A souped-up ARC.R found in the black ant lab, serving as its security guard and a trainer for the other robots.
- King Mook: As described above, it's a slightly more advanced ARC.R model with a couple more advanced tactics up its sleeve. Even the key item it drops confirms this.
- Murderous Malfunctioning Machine: Whiteboards found throughout the Black Anthill labs seem to suggest the Assistant Manager was hacked into, causing it to become very aggressive.
The Mantis
An orchid mantis located in a potted plant on the porch of the shed.
- Always a Bigger Fish: As mentioned below, this thing hunts the inhumanly tough Broodmother. It is described as the apex predator of the yard, and killing it unlocks an ability of that name describing the player as having "become the strongest creature in the backyard."
- Damage Over Time: Its sharp scythe-like arms will cause you to bleed, dealing damage over time.
- Duel Boss: Unlike all the other bosses in the game, the Mantis will fight you by itself.
- Ground Wave: If you're far from it, the Mantis may decide to repeatedly slam its arms into the ground, generating waves of dirt that can deal huge damage if they connect.
- Mighty Roar: When it rears back, it screams loudly, decreasing the exhaustion recovery of all nearby players.
- Slaying Mantis: The Mantis is a very tough insect, with its fast, swift attacks, tons of health, and the fact that its attacks cause the bleed effect with its sharp scythe-like arms, and it was stated to be so strong that it hunts the inhumanly tough Broodmother.
- Three-Strike Combo: The deadliest attack in the Mantis' repertoire. When the Mantis rears back slightly, and tilts its head to the side, it will unleash a brutal triple slam attack with its arms. Unless you have maxed tier 3 armor or are playing on mild, this attack WILL kill you if not dodged or blocked.
- Worthy Opponent: Tully determined that the Mantis will only appear to someone it deems worthy of challenging it. The way to do this is to provide it with proof of the kill of something it would hunt, in this case, the remains of the Hedge Broodmother.
The Wasp Queen
The queen of the wasps that resides in a huge hive inside the brawny boy bin at the northernmost section of the yard. She might not shred you in an instant like the mantis, but her fight will test your endurance.
- Achilles' Heel: Her flight comes at the cost of stamina. Occasionally she'll tire herself out and must land to rest and recharge, giving you a huge time window to bash her for as much damage as you can.
- Damage Over Time: Most of her attacks inflict poison, which will quickly sap away your health unless you use Mithridatism or a Waspidote.
- Dead Guy on Display: The skeleton of an Ominent agent can be found at the base of the Wasp Queen's summoning eggs. It's even impaled by a stinger to the ground.
- Flunky Boss: She will occasionally call forth wasps and wasp drones to assist in her fight against you. Thankfully, they are much weaker variants and aren't Friendly Fireproof.
- Stone Wall: Compared to the mantis, her attacks mostly deal damage in the 60-90 range to the Mantis' 90-175, and unlike the mantis' bleeding strikes, the poison the wasp queen inflicts can be heavily mitigated via Mithridatism mutation or the Waspidote smoothie. However, she has 5000 health to the Mantis' 3400, and up to 87.5% damage reduction to the mantis' 75% damage reduction. Combined with her mostly aerial nature, healing from wasp drones, and resistance to ranged attacks means you'll be whaling on her for a long time.
Infected Broodmother
Because apparently, infected wolf spiders weren't bad enough. Residing in a small cave in The Haze, her entrance is webbed off until the weed killer canister is plugged with gum. She is the strongest enemy in the game.
- Back from the Dead: Wow... that battle was kind of disappointing... Wait why can't I loot the body? OHGODSHE'SGETTINGBACKUP!
- Ok, now THAT was a proper battle. Now time for the lo- Oh, You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!!
- Boss Remix: Her music is a fast-paced remix of the original Broodmother theme.
- Determinator: Revives herself twice in a desperate attempt to kill you.
- Feed It with Fire: Don't use explosives against her. She'll actually heal from them.
- Flunky Boss: Consider yourself very lucky she doesn't pull an infected wolf spider out of nowhere. She instead settles for siccing annoying but not directly lethal infected gnats on you instead.
- He Was Right There All Along: Look up and you'll see a bunch of spikes covered in the haze fungus. Guess who's under it.
- Immune to Flinching: Downplayed. While she's not actually immune to being stunned, she has a stun threshold so high, that you realistically won't reach it. Even if you DO somehow manage to stun her, she'll be immune to further stuns for six minutes.
- Increasingly Lethal Enemy: Most of her attacks can cause lower healing and lower damage resistance that last the entire fight, and they stack. Take too many hits, and the fight can become near-unwinnable.
- Lightning Bruiser: The original Broodmother hit like a truck, but was rather slow-paced in her attacks. The Infected Broodmother, however, hits like a freight train and has the speed to match one.
- Marathon Boss: The only boss in the game to outright have Multiple Life Bars instead of just phases that change at health thresholds. She also heals from explosions, which she causes regularly as part of her fight. This turns the fight into a DPS race to cut down her monstrous health pool before her debuffs stack up too much.
- Mighty Roar: When she begins shaking in place, she'll unleash a roar that causes fungal bombs to rain down. The roar itself also damages and debuffs any players who don't perfect block it, reducing their damage output.
- Multiple Life Bars: She has 3 health bars, and they get consecutively larger. Overall, not accounting for any healing done, she has a total health of 11,000. Over double the health of the Wasp Queen.
- Superboss: The toughest boss in the game without a doubt, but defeating it is not required for progression, only yielding materials for creating powerful weapons.
- Upgraded Boss: What happens when you combine the Broodmother with the haze fungus? A whole other beast that attacks faster than a Black Widow, hits just as hard, and has a bunch of explosives to work with.
- Victory Fake Out: Upon her first "death", she curls up like other spiders do when they die. After a brief moment of inactivity, she twitches, jumps back onto her legs and suddenly comes back for round 2. Wear her down again and she just does the same trick, so get ready for round 3 when you "kill" her the second time.
The Experiment - MAJOR STORY SPOILERS
- All Your Powers Combined: Dr Tully's research from all four of the early-game labs went into making the Mant: Spider webbing from the Hedge, muscle sprouts from the Pond, fungus from the Haze, and ant parts from the Black Anthill.
- Animalistic Abomination: One can clearly see the ant aspects of the Mant.
- Boss in Mook Clothing: Literally in this case. The Mant has ant parts, fungal growths from the Haze, parts from spiders, and who knows what else Wendell put in there.
- Brain Uploading: Wendell planned to transfer his consciousness into the Mant's body, as his normal body has withered away as a result of raisining. This fails, as the Mant suddenly gains a sense of self and breaks out.
- Escaped from the Lab: Broke out from containment despite Wendell's precautions, but has since remained trapped there.
- Flesh Golem: Has muscle sprouts in it's figure.
- Frankenstein's Monster: Appears to be an expy of one.
- Genetic Abomination: Wendell's work on it seems to have also included genetic splicing.
- Humanoid Abomination: A bipedal monster conjured of fungi, muscle sprouts, ant parts, and Raw Science.
- It Can Think: The Mant is mentioned by Wendell to have gained sentience, and fighting it demonstrates it has some level of cognitive thought and reasoning, such as blocking attacks, changing strategies when the teens get out of range, or sending in ants as cannon fodder.
- Leitmotif: Part Man, Part Ant.
- Meat-Sack Robot: Was intended to serve as a remote body for Wendell to pilot to find a cure for raisining. At least that was the plan until the Mant got a sense of self.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Majorly comprised of ant parts, with some spider silk glands and so other insects that Wendell didn't think important enough to mention.
- Mix-and-Match Man: The Mant has visible ant parts, fungi sprouting from its body, and muscle sprouts.
- Monster Modesty: Wendell began to dress the Mant prototypes in tighty-whities after Haze fungus injections caused them to excrete a green, viscous substance.
- Organic Technology: A golem made from various animal parts and infused Raw Science.
- Projectile Webbing: Wendell mentions in a document that he gave the Mant the silk glands of the local orb weavers and various Embioptera species so it can create it's own webbing.
- Smarter Than You Look: As mentioned above, the Mant seems capable of genuine thought and logical thinking. So much so that it has a sense of self-preservation, dodging and blocking attacks, and using ants as cannon fodder.
The Mastermind - MAJOR STORY SPOILERS
A robotic drone piloted by Director Schmector in order to kill the teens to prevent them from learning the cure to Dr. Tully’s Rasining problem.
- I Shall Taunt You: All through the battle, Schmector mocks you. Mostly relaying that you're just smacking a robot drone and it doesn't actually hurt him at all.
- Sequential Boss: The fight has 4 distinct stages as Schmector loses health.
- Stage 1: A Bullet Hell scenario where Schmector summons numerous laser orbs you have to dodge.
- Stage 2: Schmector summons 2 O.R.C. Weaver Jr's, and will continue to summon more until the stage is littered with them.
- Stage 3: Schmector activates a set of wall-mounted lasers the player has to dip and dodge.
- Stage 4: Clearly desperate, Schmector incorporates all 3 stages at once to try and bring you down.
- Upgraded Boss: Director Schmector's drone is essentially the Assistant Manager, but much beefier and with a couple more attack patterns.
Other Creatures
The Bird
A Crow that occasionally visits the yard, landing in several spots around the map and dropping rare feathers.
- Gentle Giant: Despite its imposing appearance, it's harmless and shows no interest in the player, even when approached or shot at.
The Koi Fish
A fish that resides and roams within the pond biome, acting as a constant threat to anyone who enters its waters.
- Difficult, but Awesome: Hitting the koi fish enough times has a chance for it to drop its scales, which can be collected to make armor that gives you a high chance to stun an enemy if you perfect block their attack. Not only is getting the scales a difficult task, but so is utilizing the armor's effect. Master the perfect block however, and most hostiles will be a breeze to wipe the floor with.
- The Dreaded: Many characters respond with fear upon seeing the fish from outside the water.
- Eye Scream: In his attempt to salvage Trudy's wedding ring, Wendell accidentally caused the koi to lose an eye.
- Foil: To the crow. The crow is a harmless winged creature, who occasionally appears to drop valuable resources in the form of its feathers. The koi fish is a dangerous leviathan that also drops valuable resources—its scales—but never goes away.
- One-Hit Kill: One of its attacks is attempting to eat the player.
Tadpoles
Docile aquatic creatures located exclusively in the koi pond. They are a common source of meat for food within the koi pond, which is also used in a few other crafting and cooking recipes.
- Harmless Enemy: Does not attempt to attack players, and flees if attacked itself.
- Unique Enemy: Like Water Boatmen, they are exclusive to the koi pond biome.
